Lammas or Lughnasadh is the first autumn festival in the Southern Hemisphere calendar. This year Lammas falls on the 1st of February at 4.45am. Gods such as Lugh, Mercury, Dagon, Demeter, Ceridwen, Ceres, Brigid and Dionysus can be honoured during this time of year. Historically it’s a Celtic festival which celebrates the First Harvest of the Fruits such as apples, grapes, tomatoes, peaches, plums but also celebrates the harvest of the first grain, wheat, oats and corn. Therefore traditionally the fruit gathered is made into preserves and the grains and corn made into bread or cakes.
I was introduced to this festival when I studied Wicca back in my teens and then was exposed to a celebration of it when I was in my first Wiccan coven in my early 20’s. We would make corn dollies, bread and cakes and share it with one another.
I grew up with an immigrant Greek family and during this time of year they would make large stores of Passata due to it being used so often in their cooking. My father also made home-made moonshine using whatever was abundant and in season as well as his own wine and beer. My mother made Pita from home grown spinach and/or horta (wild grass) and fennel, stuffed vine leaves and also various Greek shortbreads and cakes. They would both share what they made with family and friends as it was common practice where they grew up and brought that tradition here to Australia when they immigrated.
These days I continue a version of their traditions as I infuse store bought wine with homegrown Greek herbs, make passata from the tomatoes out of my garden, as well as bake traditional Greek village bread and Greek biscuits using organic ingredients. I have also used this time for years to make plum jam from my garden’s Victorian heirloom organic plums (due to the trees originally being part of a farm in the area before it was sub-divided into housing). These items created from the seasonal harvest are offered to my Gods, Ancestors and loved ones where appropriate.
Due to been heavily influenced by the way I was raised, my rituals are a mix of honouring my personal Gods, ancestors and also honouring the land I live on. I see this as a perfect blend of personal devotion as someone who works with the Gods, local spirits and venerates her ancestors in a modern way. I don’t have any strong connection to the God Lugh, typically honoured during this time of year, so I personally use it as a harvest festival and honour my household Gods: Hekate with a libation set aside to Hestia. Other Gods which I have honoured during his time include Persephone, Demeter, Mercury and Apollo.
If like me if you honour any of the above Gods, you can make Greek shortbread or cheesecake for Hekate, pomegranate infused cakes or salads for Persephone, honey or sesame biscuits for Demeter, home-made wine for Mercury and home-made beer for Apollo.
It’s also a good time to make and dedicate devotional items you have crafted yourself over the summer. I tend to make and dedicate items to specific Gods utilising items from my garden due to it resonating with the vibe of the season and festival. Growing a lot of herbs, the ones which are in season, I collect preserve and store them for future use in Hekate’s name for various magical purposes. I also collect resin, bark, leaves and branches from some of my trees to be used in items such as incense, waters, oils and magical tools.
I feel magically used crafts such as candles and incense are perfect to infuse with the energies of the season especially if we are able to harness these energies and channel them into the items. I also tend to make preserves which I use in offerings thorough the remainder of the year
Also I personally feel that it is a good time to acknowledge the ancestors and leave them some food offerings as a form of ancestor veneration. I usually leave some food they liked in life such as kalamata olives, feta, stuffed vine leaves my mother taught me to make along with some Greek coffee which I can scry and divine with.
So even though the Hekate and Ancestral traditions of spirituality and magick I work, doesn’t sound like it fits exactly within the Lammas/Lughnasadh festival – I make it work for me and you can too as the most important thing I feel is devotion and dedication to your path whatever form that takes.
Seasonal Planting Guide:
Vegetables such as beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, fennel, kale, leek, lettuce, potato, silverbeet, spring onion, sweet corn, brussel sprouts, beetroot, carrot, parsnip, radish, rocket and mustard greens.
Herbs such as basil, sage, oregano, chives, parsley and thyme.
Flowers such as ageratum, alyssum, cleome, cyclamen, French marigold, gypsophila, Iceland poppy, lobelia, lupin, nigella, pansy, polyanthus, primula and verbena.
Some things you can do to honour and mark this time of year in your personal practice (or with a group of likeminded individuals) can be:
- Feast with loved ones. Make food usually consumed during this time and partake or share with loved ones, as well as leave as offerings to your gods or gods of the season, land spirits and ancestors. It’s the perfect time for baking and anything which can be shared and is seasonal.
- Bake bread and offer the first loaf to the Gods of the season. You can also take a loaf and cut it into quarters and place those quarters in each corner of your residence to bring good luck and prosperity.
- Harvest herbs, flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables and create a shrine or altar in celebration of the season.
- Rituals or spells involving gratitude, abundance, prosperity, luck and work.
- Trade or swap handmade items with loved ones.
- Make corn dollies or garlands of flowers or herbs.
- Dance or drum to raise energy and direct it into the earth.
- Write poetry or creative writing which could contain themes of the time of year.
- Visit a holy well and make offerings of flowers, cloth or coins and then circle the well clockwise for health and wealth blessings from the Gods.
- Leave grain and seeds which are safe for local birds and wildlife as offerings.
- Spend some time tending to your garden or indoor pots.
- Light a sacred fire in your fireplace or a bonfire in your backyard.
- Revamp your shrine or altar with the colours of the festival (Orange, Red, Yellow, Gold, Brown and Bronze) and adorn it with wheat, corn, applies and produce of the season (herbs, fruits, flowers and vegetables).
So work your magick this festive season, honour and celebrate the harvest and ask for what you want to be prosperous, abundant and full of good fortune in your life.
(C) T. Georgitsis 2024
It amazes me how so many traditions follow these ancient protocols and roles,